The Pedant's Revolt
Why Most Things You Think are Right are Wrong
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
'The Pedant's Revolt' is the ultimate go-to book for settling many an unresolved dispute, shedding light on a wide range of facts that we have always believed to be true, but which are, in fact, completely false. Covering a range of diverse topics, from history to science, the arts, the animal kingdom, medicine, the human body, and food and drink, and presenting its well-researched facts in an entertaining manner, this book exposes common myths and fallacies that have become entrenched in everyday thought.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Barham, a technical writer with four previous titles published in the UK, here debunks the tenacious pieces of folk wisdom that remain rooted in our collective consciousness: Ostriches, it turns out, do not bury their heads in the sand, and feeding milk to kittens is not good for them. One should not "starve a fever." "Elementary, my dear Watson," is spoken in almost every film featuring Sherlock Holmes, yet doesn't appear in any of the Holmes works by Arthur Conan Doyle. (In truth, the line was used by a film reviewer writing for the New York Times in October 1929.) Barham's concise righting of wrongs are organized into "Customs and Beliefs," "Historical Figures," "Sayings" and 18 other headings. They will have a whimsically rectitudinous appeal for some, but others may feel that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing-or as Alexander Pope, the English poet and satirist, really said: "a little learning is a dangerous thing."
